The Bucket List
Slowly but surely the individual slips relating to the jobs that need to be done around here are being extracted from the bucket. It’s somewhat satisfying in actually seeing the changes, some small, some big, actually happening.
We are still way behind in what we had hoped to accomplish by this stage of our time here and at times it’s difficult not to allow frustrations to creep in.
Our hope of having our accommodation units refurbished by now hasn’t happened; the plans for two-bedroom cottages built on the half acre of spare hotel land the hotel has, had much thought and talk hoping we could use our local abundance of red soil mixed with an amazing polymer that is highly successful in road building came to nought. It’s back to the drawing board again.
However, we are closing in on restructuring the area between the hotel and the accommodation. Hopefully, before the end of the year the present structure holding up shade cloth which looks like a safety hazard but in actual fact is quite strong will be gone and the whole area opened up with increased height for the shade cloth and a new user- friendly surface which will also incorporate a small covered stage at the western end that can be used for what stages are used for – entertainment in all its forms.
Our other ponderings have been related to ourselves – and our ages! As this year slips by at the speed of light, next year will be our tenth anniversary of returning to our beloved Yaraka as owners of the hotel – or a more realistic view would be that the hotel owns us. But it’s a journey we love.
Our ponderings have been based on the realisation that neither of us are getting younger and whilst Gerry and myself don’t mind getting older our bodies differ in their opinion; we are slowing down with various parts of our bodies complaining frequently that enough is enough!
However, our enjoyment and our involvement with the hotel (we prefer to speak of it as being more like a Community Centre) and never ever getting a chance to be bored, and all the interesting people and conversations, overcomes the complaints that our bodies make – we still enjoy being “Mine Hosts”!
However, of late there has been another however. This ‘however’ is an interesting new development that has happened over the last four months and that is we have had a number of requests asking us if we would sell the hotel. We’ve always had these enquiries in the past from people who have accepted our reply that it’s not.
In most cases they have left their contact details so that they can be informed when we do decide to sell. They all made the mistake of giving me their contact details instead of Gerry. Gerry has a degree in filing efficiency whereby it is filed immediately in the correct location and then can be found again.
I have issues.
If I do decide to file something rather than slipping it under the desk blotter my quandary is where? And where it ends up being filed depends on how and where my mind is functioning at the time. Take for example a vehicle and the options that are available; I can file it under Vehicle, or Toyota or Land Cruiser or Transport. I’ve been known to file a vehicle under R for registration. At the time of filing, it seems totally logical for me – until the time comes to find it. Fortunately, or unfortunately, as I’m never sure which, Gerry can read my mind and is able in ninety percent of the time find what I’ve filed reasonably quickly, but the other ten percent really does test her or is never ever found again.
Whilst my preference is to file slips of paper and business cards under the desk blotter, they do have that ability to disappear and never to be found again. So, my confession is – do not give me important details if you want to hear back from me!
This sudden burst of interest in whether we are interested in selling has channelled our thought in realising that our time at the hotel will end sometime – but not Yaraka!
Our love for Yaraka grows. In the present world around us that appears to be so dysfunctional whereby watching the news can bring on anxiety attacks and depression, the peace and serenity and unflustered life style that we have here seems even more appealing. Why would we leave?
The ponderings that Gerry and I have had as we’ve discussed the ‘expressions of interest’ from people as to whether we would sell have made us realise that we are both prone to be control freaks. Our desire that the vision we’ve had for the hotel as being a place that patrons can feel at home and enjoy their time here, and it’s important for us that this vision will continue when new owners take over.
The control freak side of us was demonstrated as we talked about the people who were interested in buying. ‘No way would we sell to them!” was our decision for two of the parties.
The changes they were talking about during our chatter would be detrimental to what this place is all about, and considering the history of the hotel and the input in improvements made to the place by families that have been here for generations, are more important than money to us.
The other parties seemed to genuinely share the vision and respect the importance of keeping the buildings in their present state. The internal changes that have been made to the hotel over previous decades are user friendly but we feel that the actual buildings themselves should remain as is. In the not too distant future they will be a hundred years old and must be preserved.
This region was a disaster (business-wise) in 2019 when the coronavirus hit, as was the whole of Australia. It really was a case of survival, with cash flow totally dried up. 2020 wasn’t much better with slight improvements happening in 2021. We were feeling confident that we would be back on track for 2022 and the travellers would start arriving again.
How wrong we were!
2022 was a wonderful year for this region with an abundance of frequent rains. The region was awash and this country that changes so quickly, so miraculously, has produced an abundance of grasses and woody–weeds, and the countryside looks magnificent; a huge carpet of green to start with which has now dried off but even so, still has retained its proteins for the animals to fatten up on.
One man’s blessing is another man’s curse and this was the case for the business. Yaraka was cut off frequently with roads washed out and closed for weeks at a time.
Ah well! We had time to smell the roses.
The year was a disaster for businesses who were still reeling from the coronavirus years of 2019 through to 2021 with great expectations for 2022 – the smell of roses was losing its appeal as the year proceeded!
However, April 2023 started off with a wimp and worries that travellers were not coming, but then, halfway through May, the caravan entourage commenced and it was a wonderful site to see them in the region. What a difference to the economy these travellers make by supporting the businesses wherever they stop, and interest in these remote regions grows annually as the realisation that inland Australia has so much to offer in contrast to the rush and bustle of high density living.
It has been awhile since the last Musings were sent to you and once again coronavirus can be blamed again; this time the long coronavirus hit me severely and laid me out for a number of weeks. But a full recovery has happened and according to everyone I’m back to my annoying everybody self again!
Best wishes from us all and to those on the road – safe travelling.